Dissociative amnesia – A valid construct for repressed memories

Abstract

Dissociative amnesia or psychogenic amnesia are established diseases in psychiatry, but their existence and aetiology are sometimes questioned by researchers working primarily in experimental fields of psychology. The validity of the diagnoses is defended by (a) pointing to the for centuries existing tradition of the disease conditions, (b) their likely aetiology in the context of (repeated) situations of learned helplessness, stress, and trauma, and (c) and a downregulation of emotional reactivity. Dissociative amnesia is defined as a memory blockade, usually induced by an adverse environment for which appropriate coping strategies are lacking. The influence of a lack of psychic wellbeing on the brain is worked out by pointing to results from structural and functional brain imaging and by using the examples of Takotsubo-cardiomyopathy and transient global amnesia. Concomitant psychiatric disease conditions and specific personality traits of patients with dissociative amnesia are discussed. It is concluded that dissociative amnesia is a valid concept with distinct neural correlates that withstands the criticisms of a few experimental psychologists.